Letters: On border security, teen prostitution and more

Actual security along border overlooked

I was surprised when reading the Q&A with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (“Napolitano: Border more secure than many think,” Opinion, Nov. 12) that there wasn’t a mention of the drug war that controls most of the border towns, the amount of terror among the citizens, not to mention the startling death toll (more than 28,000 in four years) – especially in light of several stories on the subject in the U-T.

I find this irresponsible. The larger problem is with the current and past administrations: their willingness to do nothing. We’ve been hearing about immigration reform, more Border Patrol agents, amnesty, etc., but the real issue is actual security. What is happening in Mexico is a war that uses terror against citizens and it is right at our doorstep. What needs to happen before we take this seriously? Until we secure our border with our own troops (taking a tip from Mexico and its relationship with Guatemala) rather than in countries that we do not belong in, the safer we will be.

Steve Warner

North Park

Curbing teen prostitution

I read “Area gangs’ latest enterprise: sexual slavery” (Editorial, Nov. 12) with a sad heart and an angry mind. We have spent more than $1 trillion and countless lives, forcing nation building on Iraq and Afghanistan with nothing in return for Iraq and what looks like a similar outcome for Afghanistan. Meanwhile, here at home we have our own terrorist insurgents – inner-city gangs – and our only defense against these criminal tribes is our underfunded and underarmed police and our overwhelmed criminal justice system.

The editorial’s timid solution of telling the law or a legislator about sexual slavery isn’t going to protect anyone, let alone the innocent girls kidnapped into this slavery. Let’s bring the troops home and send them into the inner city to combat these gangs and rebuild our nation.

Alan Segal

San Diego

I was thrilled to read that the Board of Supervisors is considering forming a full-time task force devoted to fighting child sex trafficking in San Diego County (“Law enforcement takes aim at curbing teen prostitution,” SignOn San Diego, Nov. 9).

In doing research on a child trafficking awareness project, I came across the statistic that San Diego ranks higher than Las Vegas, nationally, in incidences of children involved in prostitution and pimping activities. Perhaps the most shocking piece of information I have found regarding child sex trafficking in San Diego is that the gang members and pimps who are kidnapping and forcing children into prostitution do not currently have to register as sex offenders under California law when they are convicted. More specifically, according to The Safe Border Community Project (a project of the Institute for Public Strategies), “predatory johns,” or users of prostituted children under the age of 18, and pimps of prostituted children are not currently required to register as sex offenders if they are convicted. This means, for example, that under Megan’s Law, these individuals are not prohibited from residing within 2,000 feet of a school or park and are not prohibited from working with minors as employees or volunteers. How and why this is happening?

Breyn Marr Hibbs

University City

End of monitoring doesn’t boost safety

In response to “Panel: State should end residency limits for offenders” (Nov. 12): Our state corrections secretary commissioned a task force to look at high-profile crimes by paroled sex offenders, and its recommendation is to repeal their residency restrictions because 2,100 offenders have become transient since 2006, joining some one-third of all offenders. So to make it easier for the 38,000 “difficult to track” transients, we’re going to stop residency monitoring for all 115,000 statewide? Sounds like the panel is more concerned about making parole agents’ jobs easier than keeping the public safe and informed.